Eighty-nine students in the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Municipality of the Western North Region have been awarded government scholarships to further their education at the tertiary level for the 2019/2020 academic year.

Mr Alfred Amoah, the Municipal Chief Executive, who made this known in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said an amount of GH¢107,278.00 would be disbursed for the 89 beneficiaries.

The scholarship covers tuition fees for students pursuing various courses at the Colleges of Education, Nursing Training College and universities both public and private.

According to the MCE, 200 tertiary students in the Municipality applied for the award of the scholarships and 120 of them were shortlisted for interview out of which 89 were selected by the secretariat to benefit from the scholarship

Mr Amoah said the amount received by each beneficiary ranged from 800 to 2,000 cedis, noting that it was subject to renewal every year based on their academic performance.

“President Akufo Addo’s government wants every Ghanaian child to get better education, that is why he has made SHS free and also decentralized the national scholarship to the district level to bring opportunities closer to the grassroots to ensure equitable distribution to every Ghanaian,” said the MCE.

He further advised the beneficiaries to make use of the opportunity given them by taking their studies serious so that the awards can be renewed every academic year.

One of the beneficiaries, Mr Isaac Amoah, who is pursuing Health Administration at the University of Ghana, on behalf of his colleagues thanked the President for the decentralization policy.

He also expressed gratitude to the Member of Parliament, Mr Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu and the MCE for their role and promised they would do their best to raise the image of Municipality.

The National Scholarship Secretariat this year introduced the scholarship decentralization system to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District level to increase transparency and accessibility to funding opportunities.